


99th District Coffee: The Change Bandit

by Bad_Wolf_On_Baker_Street



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee, Coffee Shops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 04:10:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17036393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bad_Wolf_On_Baker_Street/pseuds/Bad_Wolf_On_Baker_Street
Summary: Raymond Holt has recently been promoted to manager of the coffee shop, 99th District Coffee, and is eager to impress. Everything seems to be going great in his first week, but appearances can be deceiving: Due to one employees incompetence (or rather, laziness), they have been taken for hundreds of dollars by Doug Judy - The Change Bandit





	99th District Coffee: The Change Bandit

It was another quiet morning in Brooklyn, the Sun just appearing over the horizon bathing the mostly deserted streets, casting shadows off the buildings and cars. Along the silent street echoes out the confident steps of a tall, distinguished man. Raymond Holt walks up to the door of the store where he recently became manager: 99th District Coffee. He takes out his keychain, and in one swift movement unlocks the door and opens it, the scent of yesterdays coffee and baked goods still present. It wasn’t much, but it was his domain, he had worked a long time for it and was proud of each and every one of his employees. He walks through the entryway, alongside the thin partition which obscures the coffee station from view and the cash registers, as he walks by he runs his finger along the smooth surface on which they sit finding no dust, as usual. Taking his place behind the counter, he logs into the cash registers. He looks up to see his star employee Amy Santiago walk through the doors - Always early.

Amy walks through the door with her usual assuredness, ready for another day of serving customers. This certainly wasn't what she expected to be doing while awaiting entrance to grad school, but bills had piled up and one thing led to another and here she is. If not for the familial environment Holt insisted upon, she might've left a while ago. As she walked the same route Holt did, though with noticeably shortened steps, Amy mused on what today may hold. Mostly life in 99th District Coffee was mundane, she logs into the terminal and clocks in, but they made it a second home where they learned from each other - where they grow together. Now for her favourite, but also most panic-inducing, part of her day, one on one time with Holt. She walks over to the sink next to where Holt is making the first batch of coffee, a tradition he kept from when he started, and washes her hands. Desperate to make conversation she thinks of the new Mediterranean Hummus bagel and blurts, “hummus, thoughts?” (Might add Holt’s deadpan response of “I have no thoughts about hummus.”. Idk, up to you.)

Jake Peralta made coffee and delivered the orders, a good position for him as it required little sustained attention as well as an undeniable degree of mental quickness. Though obviously immature and opposed to authority, a mutual respect had been fostered between Holt and him. Rosa Diaz worked in the kitchen, a position she dreaded at first but recently she had learned to channel her anger and exactness into a passion for cooking thanks to fellow kitchen worker Charles Boyle. Boyle always exuded a passion for cooking, baking, and all things culinary, which showed in his work. 99th District had a wide menu, filled with his own additions that exemplified his talent. Alongside Amy on cash was Gina Linetti who was always self assured and eccentric, equally willing to insult a customer as she is to give them a good experience. In the lobby, cleaning and assisting customers, was Hitchcock and Scully. They were tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum, despite that - or maybe because of it - the customers seemed to love their rapport and the levity they gave to the environment. 

It was a busy Saturday afternoon with people coming and going for their coffee, some groups lingering in booths entranced in conversation, and a small number are sat all by themselves - deep in thought. Among the customers was Doug Judy, Judy had just entered the store and was waiting in line while Gina and Amy were busy taking orders. Looking around the store, he notices Hitchcock dutifully cleaning some empty booths while Scully bumbles his way through a conversation with a rather pretty girl. Peering through the bar window, he sees Charles veritably floating around the Kitchen while Rosa, who strikes Judy as the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, aggressively chops some vegetables. Focussing back on the counter as the line progresses, he sees Jake pouring coffee and milk into a cup at the same time, no hand left to steady the cup. Swiftly he puts down the pot of coffee and jug of milk, deftly putting a lid on the coffee and grabbing the bagged muffin sitting next to it, then quickly handing it off to the customer waiting next to Gina’s register. “Tall man with mop-head, over here!”, Gina calls, and Judy walks over to her register. “Greet all your customers like that?”, Judy retorts. “Just the ones who look like tall mops.”, Gina laughs, then continues, “What’d’ya want?”. Judy takes a look at the board, zeroing in on the drinks menu, he chooses, “The Caffe Mocha sounds good, I’ll get that in Large”. Gina punches in the order and tells him the total - 2.20. Judy takes out a leather wallet, and peers into it. Immediately his face turns to one of shock, and he pulls out a 50 dollar bill. “Sorry”, he says, “It’s all I got.” without skipping a beat, Gina slides the bill into the register, gives him his change and says, “No problem, it’ll be a second”. Judy moves aside so Gina can take the next order, and within seconds he is given his drink. Judy turned around and sauntered towards the exit, not looking back once. 

This trend continued to the end of the week, when Amy noticed Gina’s mistake. “Gina, you’ve been checking his 50’s right? He’s paid in those every day this week, he can’t always be forgetting change.”, she asked to which Gina responded to with a look of bewilderment before inquiring, “We’re supposed to check those? How?”. Amy rushed over to Gina’s till and opened it, looking at the bill that Judy had left today. Nervously, she held it up to a light, noticing the holographic watermark was not there. “Damn it, Gina”, Amy said, “This is fake! Why didn’t you check?”. Gina responded, in her usual bravado, “Well, I wasn’t actually paying attention when I was trained. This brain is only used for dancing, anything else? Irrelevant.” Amy realized further conversation with Gina was asinine, and rushed to Holt’s ‘office’. Holt’s office was really just a nook in the back, he was sat at his desk, barren except for a computer and pen cup holding various writing instruments as well as a pride flag.. “Sir- Holt, I found this in Gina’s till. The same guy has paid for coffee with a 50 dollar bill all week, and this one is definitely fake.”, Amy says whilst handing the bill to Holt, who immediately examined it under the light above his desk. “This is certainly fake, how did Gina not notice?”, he asked, to which Amy responded, “She forgot how to tell, somehow.” Later that day, after close, Holt went through the last week’s money. It was a monotonous task, the shop was quite popular, but he found and identified all the fake bills. Holt then called his employees, informing them to come in early tomorrow - it was time to catch Doug Judy, The Change Bandit.

The plan had a simple elegance, it went as follows: Judy always paid the same amount, bought the same thing. Logically, there was no reason for him change this habit - this part will remain the same. The only changes will be calling an officer when Judy walks in, and dropping his coffee on the way over in order force him to stay long enough for the officer to come. As usual Doug Judy came in calm as can be, seemingly unaware of the snare he was walking into. Instantly, Peralta slowed down the coffee orders to watch the exit, while Amy tensed as her current customer left and Judy walked towards her, looking at Holt - who dutifully had already dialed 911 and alerted the authorities - behind the partition before looking nervously out the door. This was her only mistake, but it was enough for The Change Bandit to catch on. He ordered his usual order, so as to not arouse suspicion and paid in exact change. When he saw the police car pull into the parking lot through the shop’s window, he knew it was time to go. Suddenly, the plan gave him an out and as Amy fumbled the coffee, he knew he had a chance to leave. Briskly he walked toward the exit, turning at the last moment he saw Peralta looking at him hopelessly. “Catch me next time”, Judy laughed before disappearing out the door and into his car, calmly pulling out as the police officer walks in.


End file.
